


Revisiting

by masi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:06:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3153356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masi/pseuds/masi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kageyama has to write a personal narrative essay for class. He writes about Sugawara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revisiting

Tobio’s first essay assignment in university is to write a personal narrative. He isn’t sure what this assignment entails exactly. The professor only gave vague instructions, and according to the students who were hogging the fastest working computers at the library when Tobio went in to find answers, his class is basically a Japanese composition course For Jocks Only so it’s okay to write about anything, like his winter break or his most favorite person. 

The essay is due on Monday. Tobio has a match on the Saturday before it, so instead of writing, he spends the week practicing his serves and analyzing his wing-spikers and trying to make nice with the team. Whenever he feels frustrated, he practices his deep-breathing techniques. 

On Saturday, he plays well. The team wins. Tsukishima, on the other side of the net, calls him “King” again, but without any real dislike, and they shake hands. It’s nice to see familiar faces sometimes. It’s been a month since Tobio last saw Hinata. Sometimes he misses Hinata, who’s going to a university at some midway point between Miyagi Prefecture and Tokyo with that smart Nekoma setter they’ve played against before, Kenma, and doing really well by all accounts. It’s nice to have Hinata as an opponent, a proper rival, but Tobio misses the connection they had when they were on the same side of the court. Sometimes he wants to rip his own hair out when he’s with his new teammates. He wishes at least one of them was like Hinata Shouyou, have that understanding and drive and courage.

Tobio goes to sleep after the match and doesn’t wake up until Sunday afternoon. As he is stuffing a combination of breakfast, lunch, and dinner into his mouth, he remembers the essay. He opens up his laptop and opens a blank document and stares at the blank page.

He remembers, after ten minutes, Ennoshita coaching him on writing essays. When all else fails, write what you know, Ennoshita said. But this is a personal narrative, so it has to be something Tobio knows but is also personal and also a story. 

Tobio considers writing about Kitagawa Daiichi, about how much he liked Oikawa Tooru, and how in third year, during a defining match, he found himself abandoned on the court-

No. Tobio frowns at the laptop. That is the story he knows best, because of how often he used to think about it, but that is still the most painful.

He could write another volleyball-related story, about his first day at Karasuno and getting into an argument with Hinata and knocking off the vice-principal’s wig. Tobio smiles, remembering how the wig flew off and landed on Captain’s head. Sawamura was a good captain. He and Sugawara-san were good role models.

But writing about the first day means he’ll have to write about how Hinata has influenced him. He imagines Hinata visiting him at this apartment for the purposes of dragging him to yet another “reunion” party and then going through his things and then finding this essay, graded by then, and then laughing at him. “I didn’t know you liked me that much, Kageyama!” he can hear Hinata yelling, face red from laughter.

“No,” Tobio says. He can’t write about Hinata.

Sugawara-san, though, he wouldn’t laugh. Tobio nods to himself. And Sugawara is probably the one who has influenced him the most, after Hinata. That day, during the match with Seijou in Tobio’s first Inter-High Preliminaries and Sugawara’s last. Tobio can write about that. He had been playing badly and gotten benched. He was feeling like shit, but then Sugawara reminded him that their goals were the same. They both had to do their best on the court. Sugawara was counting on him and felt reassured because he knew Tobio had his back. It was a little surprising to hear someone older than him saying such words, but Tobio remembered that incident last year and said something similar when he was subbed out for a freshman.

Sugawara was never as amazing as Oikawa, couldn’t be with those textbook setups, and he doesn’t play volleyball anymore, but Sugawara has other talents. He knows how to shelve his pride. He knows how to make people feel comfortable. He has a kind heart. He is Tobio’s most favorite setter.

Tobio begins typing.

***

Tobio is not pleased when he realizes that he has to share his personal narrative with the rest of the class.

“Give us a brief summary,” the professor says, glancing at the clock at the back of the classroom. “A few sentences will be adequate.”

Tobio isn’t sure how he’s supposed to suddenly summarize the two pages he spent all night typing into three sentences. The professor should’ve warned them about this presentation beforehand. His fingers tighten around his paper, crinkling the sides. He takes a deep breath.

“Right,” he says. He stands up. “I wrote about Suga- I mean, a setter I met in my first year of high school.”

“Ooh,” a guy mumbles behind him, “someone’s in love.”

“No, it’s not like that!” Tobio glares at him.

The professor frowns. Tobio frowns too. He looks at his paper and then says, “Sugawara-san was a good setter. He taught me things.”

That sounded a little wrong too. Tobio can feel his ears turning red. “You know what I mean,” he says, but that’s wrong too, they don’t know what he means. He glances at his paper again. Weird how he has forgotten everything he’s written.

One of the girls is laughing quietly, her hand pressed to her mouth. Another guy bats his eyelashes at Tobio. The professor jots something down with a red pen.

Tobio scowls. He doesn’t want to tell those losers anything else about Sugawara or about himself. He’s said a few sentences already anyway. He thought university students were supposed to be more mature. He slumps back into his seat and turns his paper over. The professor calls on the next student.

***

To his surprise, he gets a 90 on the personal narrative essay. The professor took points off for “a poor and unnecessarily aggressive presentation,” and bad grammar, but gave him points for “a sincere revisiting of the past.” Tobio sticks the paper into the very back of his binder. 

But he can’t seem to get the essay off of his mind. He starts thinking about Sugawara in weird moments. When he sees someone who’s really polite or has a beauty mark by the left eye. When he’s out with his teammates. When he is in bed. It’s getting annoying, remembering things he didn’t realize he had paid attention to before, like how Sugawara looks in just boxers and a towel wrapped around his head, skin damp from a shower.

***

Hinata arrives on a Friday afternoon in May and drags him off to another reunion, this time at Nishinoya’s tiny apartment, and there, he sees Sugawara again.

Tobio stops in the middle of the living room floor. Hinata crashes into him. “Kageyama!” Hinata protests. “You made me spill my drink!”

“Your fault for being clumsy, airhead,” Tobio replies, on autopilot. 

He can’t seem to stop staring at Sugawara, who has noticed him, judging by the little wave, but seems to be occupied, finishing a conversation with Sawamura and Asahi. Sugawara won’t move from that spot until they are done. His manners get more perfect by the year.

He has also gotten prettier. His hair looks a little longer, and his beautiful brown eyes are shining. The thin blue sweater he is wearing fits his chest and waist in a very flattering way. He wasn’t looking bad or anything in December, when they last saw each other, but Tobio can’t remember feeling so embarrassed at that time. He definitely wasn’t as aware of Sugawara’s presence then. 

“Kageyama,” Sugawara says, and Tobio straightens up, blinking.

Sugawara walks over to him, smiling his usual friendly smile. He puts a hand on Tobio’s shoulder and squeezes. That’s familiar too. 

“How are you?” Sugawara asks. “I’m so glad you came. Nishinoya always makes the best karaage.”

Nishinoya yells, “Thanks, Suga-san!” from the buffet table, where he and Tanaka are piling food onto Kiyoko, Yachi, and Yamaguchi’s plates.

“Right,” Tobio says, and then, because Sugawara is looking at him expectantly, adds, “Thanks. How’ve you been?”

“Good. I saw a clip of your match against Tsukishima’s team. Both of you played so well.”

Tobio nods. Sugawara has a habit of tailoring his compliments to what he thinks the person he is speaking to needs to hear. Oikawa is like that too, but usually only on the court.

“Is everything alright?” Sugawara asks. “You’re quiet tonight, Kageyama.”

Tobio tries to relax his face. Sugawara raises an eyebrow. Tobio blurts out, “I wrote about you.”

Fuck, Tobio thinks. He clenches his hands. His throat is drying up now, like he’s spent an hour on the treadmill. He needs to drink some water. He needs to leave and never attend another party with Sugawara again. He regrets ever writing that essay. Writing is dangerous business.

“What did you write?” Sugawara asks.

He sounds odd, kind of careful, but also surprised, so Tobio says, “Nothing bad. It was an assignment for a class.”

“Ah, okay then.” Sugawara is all-smiles again. He is putting his hand on Tobio’s wrist. He is saying, as he tugs Tobio forward, “Tell me more. I don’t think anyone’s written about me before! I’m honored.”

Tobio lets Sugawara pull him towards the front door, watches as Sugawara calls out that they are going to the ice cream shop across the street to get ice cream cake for everyone, steps outside with him.

Sugawara lets go of his wrist as soon as the door has closed behind them. Tobio’s skin is tingling where Sugawara’s fingers had been. He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Sugawara looks awkward for the first time this evening. He folds his arms and then drops them to his sides. He makes a comment about the weather. He rambles on about how Nutrition is a useful major for athletes, good for you Kageyama, and how Sociology has been simultaneously disheartening and encouraging. He says, “Have you done something with your hair? You look different.”

“No, it’s the same,” Tobio replies. “I’m the same.”

“Not really,” Sugawara says, and then unexpectedly, blushes.

When they are crossing the road though, Sugawara is grinning at him again, is saying, “So, you’ve been writing about me, huh?”

Tobio frowns. “I told you, it was for an assignment,” he says. 

“May I see it?”

“No!”

He immediately feels bad, he shouldn’t have yelled, but Sugawara looks unfazed, so he doesn’t apologize.

“Was it about me as a setter?” Sugawara asks when they reach the opposite sidewalk.

“Yeah.”

“Ah.” There is something a little sad in Sugawara’s smile. “I would have liked to play more.”

Tobio doesn’t know what to say. He would have liked Sugawara to be on the court more often too, but not while they were both in Karasuno because that would’ve meant him getting benched. But he feels that he needs to say something to make Sugawara feel better, make him not regret the year they had together, not regret the help and kindness he offered Tobio.

They are in front of the ice cream shop now. Sugawara is reaching for the door handle. 

“I’m glad I came to the party,” Tobio says. “It’s good to see you again.”

Sugawara stops, his hand suspended in the air. He turns his head, slowly, to look at Tobio.

“Yeah,” Tobio says, clears his throat, and before he can lose his courage, leans over to press his lips against Sugawara’s open mouth. 

***

Tobio has made many stupid mistakes in his life, but kissing Sugawara isn’t one of them. True, Sugawara was looking a little flushed after the kiss and was bumping into things at the shop and almost ordered a fruit cake instead of an ice cream cake, but on the way back across the street, he touches Tobio’s hand once, and then, in the stairwell, reaches up and kisses him, nice and firm. 

Sugawara tries to backtrack a little after the second kiss. He frowns as he says, “Are you sure about this, Kageyama? I mean, I’m happy. I want to try this out. But …”

Tobio can practically see the gears turning in Sugawara’s head. It’s just like those times Sugawara would overthink a move while standing on the court. 

Tobio says, “That’s all the reason you need, Sugawara-san. All you need is to be happy.”

After a moment, Sugawara squeezes Tobio’s shoulder. Then his grip relaxes, and his fingers trail over Tobio’s shoulder, up the side of his neck. His thumb brushes against Tobio’s face, traces a line under the right cheekbone. This time, their mouths meet halfway. 

They kiss until they are startled by a loud chiming noise. Sugawara pulls away, laughing a little. He takes his phone out of his pocket, says, “They’re waiting for the cake. Let’s go.”

Tobio finds himself reaching out and grasping Sugawara’s hand. Sugawara glances up at him. Tobio squeezes his hand. 

He wants more time together. Tonight, tomorrow. He wants to get to know every part of Sugawara, to relearn him.

Tobio says, “You want to …” He sounds croaky, like a bullfrog. He clears his throat.

“Yes,” Sugawara replies. “How about we leave after the cake?”

“Good idea,” Tobio says.

He takes the cake from Sugawara, follows him up the stairs.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and thank you [bent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thimble) for your help regarding Daichi!


End file.
